(The Center Square) – Chronic absenteeism affects the dropout rate, which in turn affects crime and the economy, Georgia lawmakers were told.
The House of Representatives and the Senate have special study committees on chronic absenteeism. It is defined as missing more than 10% of a school year.
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The problem worsened after the pandemic, rising to 24.9% in the 2021-22 school year and dropping to 19.5% in the 2024-25 school year, according to the Georgia Department of Education.
Dr. M.J. Kim of the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement told the committees this week that Georgia’s chronic absenteeism rate grew 9.9% between the 2018-19 school year and the 2022-23 school year. That growth was not the highest among southern schools – that distinction belongs to Texas, which experienced a 13.6% jump.
Sen. John F. Kennedy, R-Macon, sponsored Senate Bill 123, which requires counties with a chronic absenteeism rate of 10% or more to form committees to tackle the problem.
“Quite frankly, I didn’t know what it was,” said Kennedy, who chairs the Senate Study Committee on Combating Chronic Absenteeism in Schools. “It’s not just an education issue, it’s an economic issue, it’s a workforce issue. It is the children that are in our public school systems issue.”
Kennedy’s bill requires the chief Superior Court judge to chair the county committees on chronic absenteeism.
Cobb County Chief Superior Court Judge Ann B. Harris chairs the committee for her county. Chronic absenteeism is a significant factor in high school dropout rates, which in turn affects the economy. A 2019 study shows that high school dropouts cost the nation $337 billion in lost wages.
The dropout rate also affects crime, she said.
“High school dropouts are three and a half times more likely to be arrested in their lifetime than those who complete high school,” Harris said. “Seventy percent of Georgia’s prison inmates did not complete high school. In Georgia we spend about $10,000 educating a child. We spend about $30,000 a year incarcerating an inmate.”
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The Georgia Department of Education joined a nationwide initiative aimed at reducing chronic absenteeism by 50% led by Attendance Works, a national nonprofit, along with EdTrust, and Nat Malkus with AEI, according to an August news release from the department.
“Put simply, students cannot learn when they are not in school,” state school Superintendent Richard Woods said. “When absences add up, it limits their opportunities and puts their futures at risk. It’s our responsibility to remove the barriers that are keeping students out of school buildings, and we’re working to equip schools and districts with the resources to do just that.”